Day 3,565 since October 10th 2013: 203 countries out of 203. No flight, no return home, min 24 hrs in each country and 1 pandemic! 

(The opinions expressed on this site are my own, and do not reflect the position or policies of the Danish Red Cross which I represent as a Goodwill Ambassador). 

Questions, answers, and then some

On this day, six years ago, I was back in Madrid, Spain. Ten days before, I had left Algeria having visited every country in Africa. Today, we are crossing the Bay of Biscay, which is the body of water between Spain and France.

Last week’s entry: APPROACHING HOME – MV Milan Maersk – guest no. 1

It has been three weeks onboard the good ship Milan Maersk and we have not called a single port. Captain Regin got off in the Suez Canal while the massive ship was still moving. A small boat came up on our side and the captain got onboard and left. The night before another small boat had brought Captain Jogvan onboard while we, for a brief while, were at anchorage waiting to enter the Suez Canal. That was a week ago. This week we have been moving across the Mediterranean Sea. I have crossed it several times between Europe and Africa connecting the two continents with imaginary lines. Now I have crossed all of those imaginary lines moving from east to west. For the first few days I did not like looking at the ocean within the Mediterranean. I was worried I might see bodies floating in the surface. The sea is vast and a body in the surface is unimageable small and hard to see. Yet, I feel I am still carrying some heavy emotional luggage from what I experienced in Libya on June 25^th 2017. Just looking at the water brought back unpleasant feelings. I hesitate to use the word trauma. But then I looked it up and found these words in connection to it: upheaval, distress, stress, strain, pain, anguish, suffering, upset, agony, misery, sorrow, grief, heartache, heartbreak, torture; disturbance, disorder, jolt, ordeal, trial, tribulation, trouble, worry, anxiety, burden, adversity, hardship, nightmare. I guess trauma is the right word after all.

Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Mediterranean also invokes many fond memories of the many kind people I have met throughout the many spectacular countries along its coast. On the African coast we passed by Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. We passed the islands of Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, Sardinia and Malta. On the European coast we (technically) passed the Mediterranean countries of Türkiye, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Monaco, France and Spain. So many fond memories. So many reasons to return. It was special to pass Algeria and Morocco being the last and the first African countries within a 2-year and 3-month long adventure which stole a huge chunk of my heart. I was younger and far more naïve when I entered Morocco on April 6^th 2015. I would be curious to travel back in time and meet with the 2015 version of myself. A man confident from having reached seventy-five countries on three continents without flying. Clueless of what was ahead. That man would lie in a feverish malaria induced sweat bath only three months later! – and that wasn’t even the real hardship he had to endure!! There was so much more. But so much beauty too. So many lessons to be learned. So many hearts and minds. No wonder the continent stole his heart.

Pointing towards Morocco across the horizon.

Back on April 6th 2015, Morocco became the 1st African country. Morocco is the birth and resting place of my favourite traveller, and back then I made sure to visit his tomb in Tangier. Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan explorer and scholar who lived in the 14th century. He is renowned for undertaking one of the most remarkable journeys in history, traveling extensively across the Islamic world and beyond. Born in Tangier in 1304, Ibn Battuta embarked on his travels at the age of 21. He initially set out to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca but ended up journeying for over 30 YEARS, covering around 120,000km (75,000mi) and visiting regions including North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, and China!! Ibn Battuta interacted with rulers, scholars, and ordinary people, and his writings, found in his famous travelogue "Rihla", offer valuable historical, geographical, and sociological information about the places he visited.

32 days left to donate! We have reached DKK 8,325 (USD 1,250) so far in this perhaps last collection for humanitarian work. We should at least reach DKK 10,000. We're almost there (USD 255 short).

My days have once again been full. I have been helping some fellow travellers, I have conducted a few interviews, I have been reading quite intensively, there are the final touches still to be made in relation to the homecoming, Bob has redone the Once Upon A Saga webshop (check it out), conversations with the seafarers, social media, working out, doing my knee exercises, and the occasional movie to relax my mind. I stumbled upon the “Anna Karenina Principle” born out of the opening line of Tolstoy’s book “Anna Katerina”. The principle has been interesting to me as a way of looking back and reflecting over the overall success of Once Upon A Saga. The principle states that even a single deficiency in any one of many factors causes an attempt to fail. Therefore, a successful endeavour is only possible when every single potential deficiency of several factors has been avoided. Taking a look at the possible deficiencies throughout the last near decade it is truly remarkable that we reached every country, furthermore upholding the rules of the Saga. Simply making it to the final country without losing my life along the way was never a guarantee. The book and documentary film will detail more on this element. But let’s move on now. The seafarers Q&A has taken up a lot of my time this week and I rather enjoy it. Having fared onboard forty container ships I have truly come to appreciate seafarers as a special breed. And I will now let six of them to answer six questions and bring you more insight to the life at sea.

“One needs 24 months sailing time as a 2nd Officer and 2 recommendations in order to get promoted to Chief Officer. One needs 24 months sailing time as a Chief Officer and 3 recommendations from at least 2 different vessels and 2 different superiors in order to get promoted to Captain. Additionally, you need to attend and pass specific courses etc. The crew on this ship is a team of different nationalities. We all work together and live together. Let me finish with a sentence from a famous German writer:

To handle people in the correct way is the same as handling a vessel. Both are inside an unsafe element; both are influenced by unknown mighty forces and both like that you only see their positive side instead of detecting their failures.” - Captain Jogvan Petersen, Faroe Islands.

“I remember my first trip at sea very well. It was with a small Faroese fishing trawler, fishing on the Faroese fishing grounds, I was 14 years old. We went out from Vestmanna on Faroe Islands, the first 3 days the weather was very bad so the trawler was only sailing slowly up into the wind, not able to do any fishing, rolling relentlessly and violently. I was very seasick for those 3 first days, lying in my bunk and throwing up, unable to get any food down at all. In the end it was so bad that I was throwing up blood, there was nothing else in my stomach!! But then the weather calmed down, I was able to get up on deck and get fresh air and get some food, the seasickness went away, and I have never suffered from it since, what do you know. Once things had calmed down, I liked being at sea, guess some inspiration for my present career came from there.” - Chief Engineer Stig Hansen, Faroe Islands.

“Yes. However, antennas or other navigational equipment are designed with lightning arresters”. - Electrical Engineer Ysrael Guillen, Philippines.

“Here on our vessel, I can say that in our department we have Engine Officers and Engine Ratings. As for the Engine Ratings, where I belong, we usually start our work at 0600H up to 1900H and it includes the time for breakfast, morning break, lunch break, afternoon break and dinner. We normally have this 8 hours of daywork to comply and outside this hours goes to our overtime. For the Engine Officers they start at 0800H up to 1700H including breaktimes also, but the Duty Engineer takes a round at night in the Engine Room. We are so lucky to have a good company and ship management that follows and give importance to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC,2006)”. - Wiper Sarah Christine Ramos, Philippines.

“It's a good question. Right now, there is less piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden, also this ship is so massive that the pirates are unable to climb it due to a high freeboard.” - Ordinary Seaman Phillip Bjorn De Leon, Philippines.

“The containers are secured according to the Vessel Specific Cargo Securing Manual. All the containers are secured on deck by baselocks on the hatch covers and with twistlocks between containers as they are loaded on top of each other. The twistlocks are placed in each corner of each container. And in that way, they are all attached to each other in the respective row, so to say. Furthermore, the containers are secured to the vessel with lashing bars which are attached to the container and the vessel itself. The lashing bars are checked and tightened by the ports stevedores and then rechecked and tightened by vessel crew after departure before longer voyages. During a long voyage the vessel crew also regularly check and tighten the lashing bars so that the cargo is always properly secured.” - Chief Officer Nicolai Bøje, Denmark (he's single ladies!!) ;)

I'm not putting all the other cooks down...but Milan Maersk has some of the best food I've had across all the ships I've been onboard. Well done.

Having been underway for three weeks under the power of the mighty twin engines, we are now approaching our first port call in Rotterdam. Bremerhaven will follow, then Gothenburg and finally Aarhus. We are on schedule for all four port calls which is interesting given that we left from Malaysia in Asia so long ago. Yet, flights and buses are regularly delayed? The journey from Tanjung Pelepas to Aarhus is 16,996km (10,561mi) as per the route we are following – and we are arriving as scheduled. We know that we will be coming alongside at Aarhus Port on July 26^th at 06:00am. How about that for accuracy? We are planning for a proper homecoming event and in the words of Soeren from the project group:

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Everything is in place regarding Thor’s arrival in Aarhus.

AMP Terminals have given us a big “GO” on receiving Thor the 26th of July  

Program for the day

• We meet at the GATE BUILDING, Østhavnsvej 33 at 10.00 in the morning
• Parking will be possible at the meeting address. Everybody must be registered in the Gate building
• A shuttle bus has been arranged to the harbor area – TV-vans are welcome and can enter the area
• Press will be guided to the press and reception area, where Thor disembarks at 10.30
• When Thor has arrived, there will be an opportunity for the press to make an interview.
• The first part is held as a press conference, where questions and answers take place in a group. After that, there is an opportunity for a one-on-one interview and photo of Thor
• End of arrangement no later than 12.30

For security reasons, there are limited places to the arrangement (about 50 persons), registration is required – both press and others that wish to join the arrangement. Press has first priority.

Register on this link: https://forms.microsoft.com/e/4d84J1wyrb

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Isn’t self-confidence a funny size? I’m aware that I have all the self-confidence in the world in some regards, yet, there are areas where I have very little self-confidence. Ask me to partake in a karaoke session or invite me to dance and I will become heavy as lead. Yet I confidently took on the challenge to reach every country in the world without flying – go figure? In a collaboration with the worlds perhaps most influential shipping company (Maersk), as a Goodwill Ambassador within the world’s largest humanitarian organization (Red Cross), as the first person ever to reach every country completely without flying; I worry that only few will show up to greet me during my arrival back home. It is a Wednesday, it’s in the holiday season, it’s in the morning, and I am not a well know person in Denmark. I feel like a teenager hosting an open party not knowing if only a handful will come or if the house will be full? I can only imagine the pain of an author at a book reveal where nobody shows up. But, does it devalue the book or the accomplishment? Is the author less of a person? The answer is as far as I can assess: no. So why would it matter? We have passed through the Straight of Gibraltar leaving the Mediterranean and entering the Atlantic Ocean. This was the penultimate entry before reaching Denmark. I hope you enjoyed it. Let's end with this fine read by Sofia Stenlund, United Nations. See you next week.

I would like to thank our esteemed partners for their invaluable contributions to Once Upon A Saga: DB Schenker Denmark, Kameli, Red Sand Solutions, Salomon, the Danish Red Cross and Ross Energy / Geoop

If you enjoyed this blog or find that I am doing a good job then you can support here below. The Saga welcomes funding. Thank you :)

 Best regards

Mr. Torbjørn C. Pedersen (Thor) - crossing the Bay of Biscay.

"A stranger is a friend you've never met before"

Once Upon A Saga

Day 3,558 since October 10th 2013: 203 countries out of 203. No flight, no return home, min 24 hrs in each country and 1 pandemic! 

(The opinions expressed on this site are my own, and do not reflect the position or policies of the Danish Red Cross which I represent as a Goodwill Ambassador).

Another week onboard the good ship Milan Maersk

Fourteen days have passed onboard Maersk’s impressive Tripple E vessel and it has brought us a lot closer to our destination: Aarhus - within my home nation of the Kingdom of Denmark

Last week’s entry: THE LAST SHIP – MV Milan Maersk – guest no. 1

We haven’t called a port since leaving Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia on June 24^th. We set out with 264,000 tonnes of cargo onboard the impressive ship. That would be equal to the weight of 44,000 full grown African elephants, for those of you who find it makes better sense to view the world as such. We are dealing with immense powers here! When the good ship moves slightly to one side or the other, she is also shifting the weight of all that cargo! It is utter mindboggling to me! As we made our way west across the Indian Ocean, and south of Central Asia, we felt the wind and the swell jerking Milan Maersk about. It wasn’t a soft rolling from one side to the other. The entire weight of the ship, and everything onboard, was being shook from side to side, forth and back. It only lasted a few days, it wasn’t a big deal, and it didn’t bother me. Afterwards the good ship went back to her smooth passage across the deep sea. You could easily forget that you are at sea when there is no apparent movement to be felt. The engine room is so far behind the accommodation that you don’t notice neither generators nor the powerful engines. This is in so many ways an impressive ship.

Enclosed Space Entrance and Rescue Drill.

We had a safety drill onboard. Drills are common and in place to keep everyone ready in case of an emergency. The most common drills are in my experience “fire” or “abandon ship”. This was an “Enclosed Space Entrance and Rescue Drill”. In the scenario an A.B. (able-bodied seafarer) working within an enclosed space had stopped responding to the radio. Equipped with a gas detector a rescue team headed into the enclosed space searching for the A.B. and found him unconscious with a broken leg. The unconscious A.B. was then strapped to a stretcher and hoisted out of the enclosed space where the other seafarers checked him once more before carrying him to the ship’s hospital. The drill was overseen by Chief Officer Nicolai Boje and everything went well. Afterwards everyone went back to work. The routine onboard is generally: work, eat, rest, sleep, repeat. Work takes up 70-80 hours a week for most.

Bingo night!

The routine at sea can be broken up by various things. On Sundays many ships serve ice-cream after dinner. Most ships have an outdoor BBQ once a month when the weather and port calls permit for it. I have been on ships which had tournaments (darts, table tennis, badminton), and I have been with ships which had movie nights. Now I have been on a ship which held a bingo night! It was a fun and fast paced game which offered prizes for 1^st row, 2^nd row, full house and a consolation prize for the player to the right of the respective winners. We were making our way across the Arabian Sea as Captain Regin called out: “55, 29, 63, 14, 4…” always repeating the number in single digits (55, 5-5. 29, 2-9 etc). Someone said “4 or 44?” The reply was: “single four – SINGAPORE”. That’s a top shelf bingo joke for you right there. Yours truly didn’t win a single thing but still had a fun evening with the brave crew. This ship really has a good crew. A really, really good crew!

Bingo night - Capt. Regin checking the numbers. They checked out.

One day takes the next. I can’t believe how fortunate I have been with the last ship. The crew, the ship, leadership, weather, my cabin… It is all above and beyond. Returning home by sea was a conscious choice and I made it for several reasons. It is true to the nature of a project, in which every country has been reached without the use of flight. It is also a far more memorable and impressive way to complete the overall achievement. But perhaps most importantly; it is a good opportunity for me to prepare myself mentally for the return home. I anticipate that the return home might not be easy and the mental transition can take many months if not years. A relatively slow-paced voyage stretching across more than a month offers some metal preparation. Slowly but steadily leaving Asia, returning to Europe, approaching Northern Europe, slowly making my way home to Denmark.

As we crossed the Gulf of Aden we entered "high risk area" and the portholes were covered to avoid light from getting out. Just an extra precaution. The freeboard on Milan Maersk is so high that it makes any piracy attack practically impossible. Piracy is also way down which is why you don't hear about it any more. The last reported attack was on December 10th 2022.

What was originally (2013) set to be an ambitious challenge and great adventure went on to become a mental and physical struggle of huge proportions. We have accomplished a lot within the Saga – far more than most realize. The body of work behind it has been enormous. Running has for as long as I can remember been a part of my life and certainly a way of releasing steam when everything becomes too much for me. During the pandemic I put myself through a great deal of physical challenges to cope with the mental aspect of it all. After a good run I usually feel that my mind has cleared up. As such I recently became worried when my left knee suddenly began acting up a month ago. I was on the phone with my friend Mike (while in Malaysia between Gerda Maersk and Milan Maersk) and told him about my knee. I guess Mike’s phone was on speaker because his lovely wife Susie, who’s a physiotherapist, joined the conversation. It didn’t take her long to make an assessment and I soon after received an email with a training program for my recovery, complete with an app for my phone and detailed instructions. Boom! I have been doing the exercises daily and have been taking it easy on the treadmill – it is already starting to look better. Thank you, Susie.

The gym onboard is great!

I’m slowly beginning to reflect a bit on the past decade and what has been accomplished. Lives have been touched, and meanwhile the world has changed. What was really accomplished with Once Upon A Saga? Perhaps the biggest accomplishment has been to demonstrate what can be accomplished once you set your mind to it? Or perhaps it is the overwhelming collaboration between cultures and nations to bring together a common goal? Maybe the strength within the project has been to demonstrate that something good can be said about every country and that kind people can be found anywhere? I still have much to reflect upon. Slowly I am beginning to realize what has come to pass. It is also dawning on me what I no longer need to concern myself with:

• Accommodation
• Meals
• Laundry
• Aggressive street dogs
• Tropical diseases
• Venomous creatures
• Intense traffic
• Visas
• Vaccination
• Foreign currency
• Transportation
• Immigration
• Corrupt officials
• Getting deported from island nations (this has been a real pain for the longest time. Arriving to island nations without flying and without your own vessel often generates suspicion about intentions as well as the timeline for departure. If you are unable to prove how you intend to leave then immigration and security forces might block you from entry. If you are permitted to enter then you risk deportation in case of an overstay or if you somehow upset authorities during your stay. Deportation from an island nation would be on an airplane, thereby putting an end to the accomplishment and all the effort put into it. Particular cases involved: the many visa extensions in Hong Kong during the first years of the pandemic while gradually loosing immigrations understanding, having to extend a visa in Fiji due to the delay of a Tuvaluan government vessel, and witnessing the deportation of a foreigner in Tuvalu which the authorities apparently found suspicious).

I’m sure the list goes on but you get the idea. The Saga is essentially done. We reached every country in an unbroken journey completely without flying making the project a success. I’m now on the very last means of transportation which will take me back to my home country where we see the project as completed. Sure, I’m still generating a few blogs, raising funds and awareness for the Red Cross Red Crescent, updating social media, and coordinating the homecoming. But the logistics, bureaucracy and the weight of dealing with an unfinished achievement is essentially over. There we have it in writing. How long will it take for it to leave my body?

In other news we’ve been having some fun onboard with a Q&A between the followers of Once Upon A Saga and the crew of Milan Maersk. I’ve received about thirty good questions and we are releasing the crew’s answers across Facebook and Instagram during the remaining voyage to Aarhus Port in Denmark. Eta Aarhus remains set for Wednesday July 26^th. Soeren and Ann-Christina from the Saga’s project group have been putting their backs into arranging the homecoming. It is so far a collaboration with Aarhus Port and Maersk Terminals. Due to port security, it will be limited to fifty visitors including press. Press releases have been sent out to Danish media and we have our fingers crossed for good weather.

“We keep the time zone as close to true time as possible, meaning that we will have the sun at the highest (noon) close to 12 oclock ships time, changing the clocks when required, but also having the same time zone as the port we will come to” - Captain Regin Hansen, Faroe Islands.

"A picture speaks a thousand words". Left to right: Chief Cook Emelie Alarao, Philippines, Wiper Sarah Christine Ramos, Philippines, Ordinary Seaman Alma Corazon Larena, Philippines, Ordinary Seaman Rosemar Diaz, Philippines.

“I think every day. It’s the most beautiful thing to witness at sea in the night far away from all the light pollution. Looking and finding various constellations up there was a hobby I employed from my first vessel.” - Engine Cadet Ritvik Nair, India.

“We have a lot of extra curriculum activities except of job on board. We do play games, barbecues, music, movies, etc. That’s how we involve us at sea” - 4th Engineer Manoj Chaudhary, India.

As we round up this entry, I can announce that we have returned to the Mediterranean Sea, thus bringing me closer to Europe than I have been for nearly five years. Yesterday we made the voyage through the Suez Canal, leaving the Red Sea behind and entering the Mediterranean. This became my second time heading northbound through the artificial sea-level waterway. The first time was back in early September 2018 onboard the good ship Gjertrud Maersk from Salalah (Oman) to Port Said (Egypt) just before reaching Israel. The Suez Canal was constructed between 1859-1869 by the Suez Canal Company. It has since then been expanded upon several times. Approaching the canal and heading through it generated an opportunity to crack several “Ever Given” jokes. Ah yes, the grand vessel which got stuck in 2021. Well, unknown to most it is far more complex to navigate a large vessel through a narrow canal than what it is to drive a vehicle through a tunnel or across a bridge. The gigantic propellers generate suction towards the coast, speed must be managed carefully, wind plays a huge factor on the large ships-side, current must be accounted for…perhaps it’s more surprising that it doesn’t go wrong more often given the heavy traffic of giant vessels passing through?

The good ship Milan Maersk taking up some space in the Suez Canal.

Sadly, I had to say farewell to Captain Regin Hansen as he disembarked while we passed nearby Port Said. The night before, Captain Jogvan Petersen joined Milan Maersk, a fellow countryman of Captain Regin from the Faroe Islands. Captain Jogvan is a good trade off, but I really like Captain Regin and would have enjoyed reaching Denmark with him onboard. Alas, it has been part of the Saga for the longest time; saying hello and farewell to people all over the world. I will now leave you with part one of this intriguing and well produced podcast interview by Jason Moore from Zero to Travel. Until next week – keep on keeping on.

Captain Regin Hansen signing off. Captain Jogvan Petersen signing on.

I would like to thank our esteemed partners for their invaluable contributions to Once Upon A Saga: DB Schenker Denmark, Kameli, Red Sand Solutions, Salomon, the Danish Red Cross and Ross Energy / Geoop

If you enjoyed this blog or find that I am doing a good job then you can support here below. The Saga welcomes funding. Thank you :)

 Best regards

Mr. Torbjørn C. Pedersen (Thor) - back in the Mediterranean!

"A stranger is a friend you've never met before"

Once Upon A Saga